AudioAficionado.org - Pink Triangle Anniversary

Hello folks,

I just had the opportunity to buy a very nicely maintained Pink Triangle Anniversary with a SME V arm. Actually what made me buy it was the SME V.
The whole combo, with a huge Fadel Art phono cable ( costing about 1000 euros alone ) and a Siltech power cable, was proposed at 3000 euros. A steal.
Nowadays, the SME V 9' arm costs 4500 euros. And yes it is still one of the best tone arm in the world.
So virtually, I got the PT Anniversary for free.
I needed an other TT like a hole in my head ( I love this american expression which I heard first from Dan ! ) but I just could not pass on this offer.
Especially because I am now using Koetsu carts in my 2 main systems and Koetsu are known to fit very well with those SME arms.
So my beloved TD124 left the living room and will make her way to my bedroom or my office. And let's make place for the PT !

Some history.
Arthur Khoubesserian founded PT in 1980. The elements of the first TT were very modern and never seen at that time : the inverted bearing, a DC servo controlled motor, a light but very rigid suspended sub chassis, and most of all, PT was the first company to introduce an acrylic platter. Later on, the acrylic platter became very usual for many makers. This material has great acoustic properties, very inert and neutral sounding, with a high level of absorption of vibrations coming from the motor / belt assembly. Its weight is rather light, hence allowing the use of a small motor.
Then around 1995, Khoubesserian came out with the Anniversary TT, improving its design and incorporating other concepts. He was able to mount the motor directly on the sub chassis, and this is still unique today, and especially to put it in line with the spindle axis and the arm rotation point, hence getting the lowest torsion moment produced by the belt on the platter and relative to the arm. He also introduced a 3 pulleys mechanism for the belt.
This table sounded much better at that time than the most loaded LP12, and it was called the "LP12 killer". Better ? Actually much more neutral, silent, and uncolored especially in the mid bass area.

I owned a LP12 some years ago. I loved that tt. But with years I got tired of its colorations. The "fully loaded" LP12 SE got rid of most of those colorations, but for a price tag of 20k euros which is absolutely insane for such a design imho.

So my PT Anniversary arrived a few days ago.
It took some time to set it up perfectly. The leveling of the whole surface of the platter is a bit touchy. The leveling screws on the side of the plinth may become loose and then you have to remove everything again ( the top mirror, the platter, belt, pulleys, bearing ) to access their mechanism and put it back in place ! ( actually the way to do it is without the mirror in place and put the mirror when it is done ! ).
The Anniversary is in my living room system ( second system after the main ) with a Koetsu Rosewood cartridge, LFD MC1 phonostage, Ayre P5xe mp preamp ( V5 xe amp coming), Shindo CCQs monoblocks and Audio Note AN-J HE hemp with silver coils.

How does it sound ? Stunning. Seems to be completely free of the colorations of other suspended tt's. The music emerges from deep deep black silences. The surface noise of the cartridge is extremely reduced. Actually I listened to a few recordings and heard absolutely no surface noise.
The sound is both extremely neutral and balanced yet very musical and engaging. The dynamics and speed of transients are probably among the very best on earth.
Its "weak" area compared to very high end designs may be in the bass. It is very good, articulated and dynamic, and very rich in tones and grain, but probably not the deepest and strongest one. But I feel no frustration compared to the Verdier which is a true champion in the bass area.

I can understand now why some people would swear that the Anniversary is among the very best TT ever made and why Art Dudley of Stereophile states that "Pink Triangle's Anniversary remains among the four or five turntables that have most impressed me over the years"
(Read more at https://www.stereophile.com/artdudle...Gg68XiWgWLW.99)

Is the PT Anniversary / SME V combo as good or better than the modern fully loaded LP12 SE ? Only a direct comparison in the same system would give the answer. My guess is that they are very close indeed. Seems to me that Linn invested a huge energy and efforts to get to this neutral yet highly musical sound and is asking an amount of money for that which is completely unjustified. While the keys to get to that point were already available from Khoubesserian's genius designs skills. BTW, Dudley thinks that the Funk Firm ( the new name of Khoubesserian's company) kit for the basic LP12 is the one that give the best results and lead to the best sounding LP12 available.

Thanks for reading !

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